Halloween: Oh How I Love Thee. Party Time!

I thought perhaps before it gets too late, I should post about my Halloween party!

Here's me costume. It turned out mostly alright. I was quite happy with the belt, but still didn't get the hang of sewn in sleeves (thanks to my blogless friend Krista for taking these pics!)

Some of the mucho sugar that populated the party.
After that evening I was like a desperate soul, begging people to take some food! So much food. Food that lasted for days and days!
Note: next year, invite more people. Threaten them if they don't take lots of munchies away with them.

Which pumpkin would you vote for? I had a few prizes and draws: best carved pumpkin was one of them.
FYI, the winning pumpkin was the one at the bottom right. It was actually tied with the pumpkin on the upper right.
I carved the one that looks like windows, sitting on the ground there. It actually wasn't finished. It was supposed to have a carved vulture sitting inside it, à la Martha here.

Just flame, no heat: this was a part of the backyard. The plan had been to have my patio heater there all set up and good to warm all the becostumed partygoers as they enjoyed the clear October evening. Didn't work out quite like that. The heater looked awfully cool, but didn't really heat so well.

So very much looking forward to next year. What should I be? Hmmm.....

Indie Designer Day

Designer: fallmasche
Rav ID: fallmasche
Some Great Designs: fallmache's Rav Designer Page

Simple shapes; subtle colours.

This week's designer has a graceful, understated style that translates beautifully into a variety of knits.

Versio (pictured) is a comfy-lovely seamless knit. There's something very fashionable yet casual about this piece. It's the whole aesthetic, methinks: just the right amount of ease, the wide stripes, the colour choices.

Rotation also uses stripes to great effect, this time both wide and narrow. The combination of these two stripe sizes and negative ease gives this comfy-lovely pullover a very attractive look and inviting feel (and bonus: it's a free pattern!)

It's really great to me when designers put in those extra details that show they're really thinking about their pieces. The Strandlaeufer (sandpiper) cowl was fallmache's first pattern, but she demonstrates her thoughtfulness with this colour suggestion:
"For the darkest color...maybe choose the color of your (or the one who will wear the cowl) eyes."

And finally I'll point you to April in Berlin. This elegantly simple tunic top is the sort of thing that makes my heart go thump. Now, if only I could gather together more time in the day to knit one for me!

Adventures in Apple Butter

My dad has a farm out in the boonies. Beautiful, beautiful boonies. (funfact: it's the location for the photos for the September YearLong YarnSong).

This farm has a great little orchard, from which he's kindly collected some apples and pears for me this year.

Once again, I'm on a mission to make my house smell amazing, and make some apple butter!

Since these are organically raised apples (read: not sprayed, and basically left to fend for themselves...) many of them were, let's say, less-than-photogenic. Under the surface peel, though, lay delicious, delicious apple meat :)


My dad tends to do things thoroughly, and when I asked for "some apples", he brought be about 4 barrels full.
So merrily I went on, peeling and slicing away.

I love the hours of cooking involved with making apple butter. That might sound a bit off, but really, I like tending to the simmer pot of sweetness, watching it thicken and darken, always amazed at how much it reduces, and pleasantly soothed by the wonderful scent in the house.



This was, of course, only a fraction of the many, many apples I had waiting to be cooked. Let me tell you, I have apple butter to last a life time now.

Anyone want some?

Indie Designer Day

Designer: MMario
Website Group: MMario KKnits
Rav ID: MMario
Some Great Designs: MMario's Rav Designer Page

I gasped and gasped again when I came upon MMario's wonderful designs.

Unbelievably, there are quite a number of beautiful pieces that are free!

First I'll point out the Uhura shawl (pictured). This intricate triangle shawl looks like the lace is dancing, the alignment of yarn overs and solid areas make for a vibrating and eye-catching knit.

Out of Cheese is another free shawl; a different shape this time, the large hexagon with its central detail and intricate wide edging looks fantastic draped over one's shoulders.

A cape: St. Jacques demonstrates MMario's great skill in lace design. I'm really quite amazed at the range of shapes he's able to skillfully create. He has over 80 designs. It's unreal.

And finally, a bit of whimsy, the Lobster Quadrille shawl. How cool is that? A lobster in lace!

October's Haunting Air: New YearLong YarnSong

What with one thing and another, I've finally been able to publish October's edition of YearLong YarnSong.

This issue contains three patterns.

Eidolon

Sizes XS - XXXL
A long sleeved, historically inspired gothic fancy, this sweater has unique details such as a peplum, buttoned lace cuffs, ruffled neckline and three-button keyhole closure at the back of the neck.


Peat, Ghosts and Hurricane Lanterns

Sizes S - XL (note: this covers the CYC standards sizng from XS up to XXXL)
This knit (which has made it's way into my regular rotation!) is a pretty and practical piece to add to your wardrobe. A shrug with style, this garment includes a deep hood with gathers along the upper edges, a picot hem, short sleeves and a front closure clasp.


Cemetery Whispers

Sizes S - XL (note: this covers the CYC standards sizng from XS up to XXXL)
A quick knit with bulky yarn, this shrug has a large ruffled collar and sleeves.

Indie Designer Revisited

Designer: Hanna Breetz
Blog: evergreenknits
Rav ID: evergreenknits
Some Great Designs: evergreenknits' Rav Designer Page
Original Indie Designer Post: February 6, 2009

Not only are evergreenknits' designs beautiful and consistently elegant, she's maintained her dedication to knitting green.
Her latest blog post talks about natural dying with pecans - really cool.
On to the knitting!

Since I first profiled Hanna in 2009, she's done much more great work. She's published a fantastic shawl pattern for Sanguine Gryphon, Industrial Revolution (pictured). I encourage you to check out the other photos of this shawl on the pattern page. It seems to morph wonderfully into several different shawls, depending on how it's worn.

Another beautiful knit, self-published this time, is Vermont Shawl. I love how it really does seem to reflect the lushy greeny leafiness of a strong, old forest.

And one more notable mention is the adorable Sea Urchin. This sweet little whimsy just might find it's way onto my Christmas knitting list!

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Cecilia Flori
Rav ID: ceciknits
Some Great Designs: ceciknits' Rav Designer Page

With interesting shapes and attractive elements, this week's designer has a great talent for creating fabulous accessories.

One of the two patterns she has posted is the pictured a thousand splendid suns. Great name, right? I think it's rad gear.
The photograph shows off the beautiful way this seemingly simple knit can look so interesting, and I can imagine it really "making" an outfit.

The second pattern ceciknits has published is the long (and winding) mesh. Again, great name. Take a look at the number of photos she has posted of this piece. It appears to transform into so many different shapes! I really love the look of it all scrunched up, and the little flipped over cowl look is great too.

Thanks for the patterns! Looking forward to any new designs you may cook up (and the wonderful names to accompany them!)

Rhinebeck Redux;, Or, Here's My First Video Post

Hi all!

As a bit of a recap, I thought I'd let you know a bit about how Rhinebeck went for me. And, in a video post!
I apologize ahead of time for the following:
-poor video quality
-obvious awkwardness
-any inability of the video to play

Rhinebeck Redux from canarysanctuary on Vimeo.

Beware: Four Hungry Knitters on Road to Rhinebeck!

It's true. This year is the year.

I'm finally going to experience the consta-lauded, much-anticipated, always-venerated Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival.

I'm not new to attending knitting fairs, but by all accounts, this is a festival like no other. I'm pretty dern excited, and I'll tell you why:

This is going to be a superawesomesauce road trip for me and three other knitting buds. The Orange Beast¹ is up for the haul. I've done over 6 hours of straight driving before, but that was all within Canada. Crossing the border is new! So, that orange car with the Ontario license plate? That's us.²

As a big fan of cute animals (especially dumb cute animals), I look forward to meeting a few of the ovine persuasion. And, if anyone of you will be there, please say hi! Fair warning, you might have to pull me away from whatever shiny thing I'm fawning over at the time!


____________
¹ The Orange Beast is my fantastico car. Guess my favourite colour?
² I've coordinated with all the other orange-car drivers in Ontario - they're not going. I have the market cornered on Ontario orange cars.

Thanksgiving; Or, How Awesome It Is

It's difficult to choose, but in the general rankings of holiday awesomeness, Thanksgiving's my second favourite of the year.

Previous years have seen me post a wee bit on this topic: a few years ago it was joy at the successful avoidance of mass familial poisoning at my first Thanksgiving as hostess.
This year, I sadly am stepping down as party-starter. My new home isn't up for company quite yet. I suspect the atmosphere might be ruined if the dining situation involved boxes-as-chairs and plastic cutlery (because you know, somehow, there seems to have been a bizarre migration of real silverware from the box they were supposed to be in to some random, foreign box, buried at the bottom of the bottomless pile of randomness in the fright-maze that is the basement....)

Aaaaanyway, I've always felt Thanksgiving is so wonderful and warm. Family together, that fantastic post-gorging bloat, the beauty of an Ontario autumn, and really, I dig the whole "taking time to be thankful" thing.
I'll tell you a secret: the apparently frivolous nature of this blog? It's silly and pleasant and happy and frivolous on purpose. This is itself a tool for being thankful.

I'm thankful for pretty yarn. For the inspirational creativity of others. For the fact that my life is prosperous and comfortable enough to allow me the time to indulge in frivolity. I have fantastic people around me who I can turn to for help; people who support (and even understand) my squeals of delight over a simple hank of yarn.

I hope you all have that level of happiness, too. And even more!

*ok, wiping away the superfluous amounts of saccharinity....

Let's go eat food! Because there's no joy in life like a full belly.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, whether you're in Canada or not.

Halloween: Oh How I Love Thee, Part the First; My Costume!

This year my new château will be host to Halloween!

October is the best for oh-so-many reasons, and Halloween is my list topper. I love this holiday. If it were a human, I'd be seriously inclined to marry it. At the very least we'd go out on a few dates. See how the chemistry worked out.

This post is a warning, beware and heads-up: I'll be re-entering the blogging world with a superfluity of Halloweeny party planning.

This post is also a discussion about, rant upon and general headdesking about women's Halloween costumes.¹

Here is what I wanted to be for Halloween: a Roman centurion.
Guess what type of costumes I found for a grown woman Roman centurion?

I believe the photograph, with it's ability to speak one thousand words, explains why I have not chosen this pre-fab.

With limited time and sewing skills, I didn't feel up to the task for doing any of the following:
-buying this.... costume.... and altering it to suit my tastes
-buying either a men's costume pattern or boy's costume pattern and modifying it to fit me
-searching (perhaps fruitlessly) for bits and pieces to toss together and hobble up my own no-sew version of a Roman centurion

And so, off to the fabric store I went, fingers crossed that somehow it would have a women's Roman centurion pattern that... suited my tastes... which the internet did not.

Lo, and to my everlasting non-shock, it did not.

But what the fabric store did have was an array of lovely historical dress patterns. Being a history nerd, I couldn't resist, and purchased Butterick's B4827 Misses Medieval Dress pattern.

Of course, I couldn't go as just any well-to-do medieval woman: I'm going as Eleanor of Aquitaine!

Boo yeah!

This costume suits my many costume guidelines:
-will keep me reasonably warm on what will obviously be a chilly October evening
-allows for freedom of movement (this guideline unfortunately rules out tons of kickass costumes)
-does not require any sort of thick face paint
-also, does not require a mask (clashes with the glasses. Glasses cancel out masks. I choose my ability to see over costume)

So, anachronistic as it shall be, I'll be a plastic-frame bespectacled Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Next time: costume sewing success (or failure. And if it's a failure, I promise it'll be a hilarious one.)
____________
¹ Wooo! Feminism post!
Yes yes, it's all very personal-as-political, but everyone has their bugbears, and sexualized Halloween costumes happen to fall in the category of things that yank my chain.
It highlights the masquerade parade that is acceptable "femininity" in this culture that women, when given the opportunity to dress up, are assumed to want to have every single costume choice be highly sexualized.
Even when you can find a costume for an adult female (and disturbingly, even for teenage girls and pre-teens!) that isn't by it's nature very sexual, it is morphed into a sexualized piece of women-hating garbage.
Want to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz? Be prepared to raise that hemline and expose some breast! For dog's sake, Dorothy was a little girl.
And, think there's a limit to what can be sexualized?
A few years ago a friend of mine saw a woman dressed up as a sexy Ninja Turtle.
End Rant.

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Atelier Alfa
Blog: Making Things
Rav ID: al-fa
Some Great Designs: alfa's Rav Designer Page

This week's designer is fantastic with manipulating and utilizing interesting shape.

It's an aspect of knit design that's always intrigued me, and seen to great effect in the
escargot hat and scarf (pictured). This knit-in-one-piece hat has a matching scarf as well. Just look at the cool short row work. I'm imagination-drooling over the thought of this knit in a self-striping yarn.

Check out another project with cool shape (and lace this time too! with big and small leaves cardigan. With pretty detailing and bulky yarn, this sweater looks like a great, cozy, autumn knit!

She's also got several men's patterns; recto verso for men is a simply detailed pullover, with texture that would retain any knitter's interest, while still being masculine enough to appeal to many men.¹

Finally, I'd like to point out the awesomely adaptable hoodiescarf. I dig knits that can do a few duties, (one of the reason cowls rule the world), and this one combines all that you need to keep your noggin nice and toasty.

al-fa has so many more patterns for you to see - just check out her Rav designer page!

___________
¹ As a side note: being a female, I suppose I'm generally not privy to the sorts of special, gender-based information and rule that govern the Proper Clothing for Men. In a few (very few) conversations with those of the Masculine Man gender, I've discovered that baby blue is not appropriate for men. Too "soft", perhaps? This may be something for another post....

Indie Designer Revisited

Designer: Jane Richmond
Blog: Jane Richmond
Etsy Shop: jane richmond
Rav ID: JaneRichmond
Some Great Designs: JaneRichmond's Rav Designer Page
Original Indie Designer Post: November 28, 2008

Right from the start, you could tell that JaneRichmond would do great things. With a fantastic eye for design, she's published many, very popular designs over just about two years. Just check out her designer page on Rav - so many patterns with hundreds of projects!

This is easy to understand; she's very good at creating knits which are stylish and wearable.
There's a lot of wonderful patterns to choose from; today, I'll point out two for you.
Pictured right is Hart, a new and very pretty shrug. It's got all the hallmarks of a JaneRichmond design, right down to the great photography. I really love her outfit, and the flower in her hand!

Also, I'd like to point out a pattern you've (very likely) seen, the incredibly popular Sedum. A cozy, wonderful piece, this garment also typifies her fantastic style and great skill as a designer.
I really admire knitters who can have the vision to be able to create pieces that are beautiful, wearable, classic and yet have that bit of a twist that makes it their own.

JaneRichmond is virtuoso at this. I can't wait to see what she designs next!

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Ágnes Kutas-Keresztes
Blog: Ágnes Kutas Knitwear Design
Etsy Shop: Ágnes Kutas Knitwear Design
Rav ID: AgnesKutas
Some Great Designs: AgnesKutas' Rav Designer Page

Oh autumn, I love you so.
This week's designer has a collection of fab knits for fall, just a few of which I'll highlight here for you:

Pictured is the pretty Fresia. I can't tell you how much I love the grape pattern. This sweater rules (and I love that she's got photos in front of grape vines too. It's all about the details!)

Wish Me Luck also makes use of a nice repeated pattern. This cardigan is a good staple for any wardrobe.

I really enjoy when a designer shows off their ability to manipulate a variety of design elements and techniques. Not only is AgnesKutas great with textured patterning and lace, she's got a great eye for colour too! Check out Milano, a cute yoked sweater with lace-rib detailing.

I'll leave off with another wonderfully textural design, Spring Leaves. All over texture at its best!

Indie Designer Day

Designer: Johanna Bibbins
Blog: Knitting My Day Away
Etsy Shop: KnittingMyDayAway
Rav ID: JohannaM
Some Great Designs: JohannaM's Rav Designer Page

Light and airy, the designs by this week's talented knitter, JohannaM, showcase a great selection of delicate pieces.

First up is Fönn (pictured). I love how JohannaM described it to me, a "...big delicious shawl." And oh my, it is.
This is a very recent publication - so much so that it wasn't out yet when I first approached the designer about writing this here post. When she mentioned she'd have a new pattern out soon, I was interested and excited.
When I saw it was this fantastic shawl, I was really excited! I couldn't wait to post it for ya'll.

Now, here's the lovely lacy Kyrrð. I really admire the photos JohannaM has for her patterns. They're always attractive, and display her knits in a variety of ways. Really shows off the pieces to their utmost.

While she has a number of other patterns, I'll share just one last one with you: Strokkur. This pretty cowl is sized for toddlers all the way up to adults. It looks fantastic! (not having any children within my regular circle of acquaintance, I wasn't aware how supercool cowls look on kids! Great idea).

Can't wait to be stunned by the next beautiful pattern JohannaM publishes!